Madurai Panthers and Trichy Grand Cholas meet in Qualifier 1 of the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2026 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday evening.
Madurai needed a big win in their final league game and got one. They posted 198/5, the highest total in Chennai this TNPL season, after slipping to 40/3. Hari Ragavendra and Shoaib Md Khan then added 60 for the fourth wicket, and Atheeq Ur Rahman made an unbeaten 50 off 27. Nellai were dismissed for 126. Atheeq has 212 runs this season, with NS Chaturved on 210, and Hari Ragavendra has scored 147 in his last three matches.
Trichy were the first team to reach the playoffs. They beat Chepauk Super Gillies by 14 runs, scoring 191/7 with Sanjay Yadav on 54 and S Shyam Sundar on 52, and they have won five of their last six matches, four of them batting first. K Rajkumar has 245 runs, J Suresh Kumar 204 at a strike rate of 175, and Shyam Sundar 169 in four matches. K Easwaran has taken 14 wickets, while V Athisayaraj Davidson and Antony Dhas have 10 each.
It should be a good contest, but we back Madurai’s batting.